To know how to sharpen a circular saw blade, you need to know Circular saw blades are arguably the most important part of the circular saws/track saws.
You see, without the blade, you cannot cut your workpieces. But the blade needs to be sharp too. It can be a challenging process to sharpen the circular blade altogether, but here is a guide to help you.
Lets get started
Table of Contents
Quick Safety Guide
Before you even start sharpening the blade of your circular saw, you need to ensure that you are safe enough for the whole process.
What’s the best way to stay safe than to ensure that you have all the safety gear with you? That being said, these are the must-have safety gear and necessary tools you must have with you before you start sharpening the blade.
- Bench vice
- Washable marker or chalk
- Heavy-duty socket set/Power supply
- Wire brush
- Handheld file
- Gloves
- Protective goggles
- G-clamps
- A piece of rug to clean the area
- Ensure that you know how circular saw works
How to Sharpen a Circular Saw Blade
You must have the proper tools and safety gear for the sharpening process to be successful.
Preparation
Once you have all your tools and safety gear ready, the sharpening process can proceed. Here, you’ll need to remove the blade from the saw. Make sure that the saw is switched off and unplugged from the socket. You don’t want to work on the blade when the saw is still plugged in the socket.
If you are lucky, you might have a saw that comes with a blade release switch. Here, all you’ll have to do is push in the release switch and the blade will pop out. From there, you’ll just have to pull it out accordingly.
But if you have an old circular saw, all you need to do is loosen the arbor nut using a wrench. You definitely have an option to buy a budget circular saw but sharpening the old one is not a bad idea at all.
Step By Step Process of How to Sharpen a Circular Saw Blade
So, now the blade is successfully removed and safety to sharpen. From here, you just need to make it secure enough to sharpen it.
Step One: Hold the Blade Down
It is impossible to sharpen the blade without securing it. Actually, it is not recommended to hold the blade with your hand when sharpening the blade. Instead, you must ensure that the blade is held down securely.
Here, you will use the vice grip to secure the circular saw. Ideally, make sure that the blade faces up with the teeth pointing at you. Furthermore, you should not tighten the vice grip too much. Making it too tight might warp the metal holding the teeth.
Step Two: Set The Marks
If you were wondering where the marks would be used, here is when they come in. Use the marker to mark the topmost point of the circular saw blade. This will allow you to know when you have gone all the way around the blade. In other words, it prevents you from sharpening again where you are already done with.
Step Three: Focus on the Bevels
As you sharpen, you will notice that each two-blade points come with a bevel on the side. The bevel will be facing you. Here, simply use a diamond file to file the bevels. For perfect results, make sure that you hold the file at around 20-degrees angle from the bevel. Give it four uniform strokes along the bevel of the first tip.
If you notice the surface of the bevel is getting extra shiny, then the sharpening is successful. But if not, then apply more stroke or change the file.
You can skip one blade and proceed to the next beveled edge. Redo this until you cover the entire blade. For uniformity, ensure that you maintain the same strokes you use the same number of strokes that you used on the first blade.
Step Four: Do the same on the other side
Once you are done with that, turn the blade over and repeat the process. Make sure that you apply the same technique that you did on the previous step. We recommend that you mark the blade accordingly to avoid sharpening the teeth again. Remember that the marker helps you to know the starting point.
Step Five: Get to Filing
So now you have worked on the bevels as needed. What else is left? The main thing; filing the teeth. Here, you will need to file the tip of every booth. But here, you won’t even have to apply multiple strokes. All you have to do is run the file back and forth one time. Do this across the front edge of the top of the blade point.
The reason for filing the booth back and forth only once is to prevent to wear down too much. Do this to all blade tips on the blade. This step needs extra care, so don’t do it carelessly.
Step Six: Install Back the Blade
Now the blade is sharp enough. One way to know this is to check the shininess of the tips and bevels. If they are silver shiny, then they should be sharp enough. But the best was to know if the blade is sharp is to put it to the test by cutting a plywood or Concrete blocks with the circular saw. Also make sure your blade is clean after the task finished, You can check how to clean it.
But first, you’ll have to put the blade back to the circular saw/ Bandsaw. Just unlock the blade from the vice grip and put it back onto the saw as needed. Since you had used it before, putting it back should be an issue. You can use the same procedure you used initially. Alternatively, simply follow the user instruction.
You can watch the video to learn more in depth.
FAQ
Q. How do I Know if the Blade is Sharp?
Ans. So, the first thing you need to do before sharpening the blade is to confirm if it needs to be sharpened in the first place. It is actually very easy to know this.
All you need to do is check the quality of the sawdust. If it is dust (fine-quality), then it means that the blade is dull and sliding through the wood piece. But if they are in chips, then the blade is good to keep going because it is sharp.
Conclusion
So, there you go. You now know how to sharpen a cordless circular saw blade. Remember to follow the safety precautions at all times. Also, use the right file and other necessary tools when sharpening the blade but I suggest you to choose quality saw for your workshop to get better service.
If you want to avoid sharpening the saw all the time you must need to follow the reviews and guideline before purchasing the best compact circular saw / best track circular saw.